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(No Iticadel.) n l 'l W'. GRAY.

BoDY PROTECTOR. No. 374,150.. Patenteg'Nov. 29', 1887'.

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UNITED STATES -PATENT Ormea.

WILLIAM GRAY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO ERNEST CADY, OF SAME PLACE.

BOD`.`PROTECTO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 374,150, dated November29, 1887.

Application filed June 15, 1887. Serial No. 241,419. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM GRAY, of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Body Protectors and Guards, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same. My within-described invention relates to the class of devices that are used principally in athletic games for the purpose of protecting the body ofthe player from the blows of the bat, stick, or like implement used in playing the game; and the object of my improvementis to provide such a device that may be used as a guard or protection for the body, legs, arms, or other part of the person engaged in the game, and that shall combine lightness and durability with effective resistance to the shock of the blow.

To this end my invention consists in the combination of hollow springs of elastic material and a back or cover on which said springs are supported; and my invention further consists in details of such hollow spring a'nd its parts and in the combination with the supporting structure, as more particularly hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a front .view of a body-protector that embodies my invention, shown in use, and with parts broken away to show construction. Fig. 2 is a view in cross-section through the said device. Fig. 3 is a plan view of an alternate form of my invention. Fig. 4 is a view in cross-section through the latter form. Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of another alternate form of my invention, the elastic springs being shown as supported in a nettting.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter a denotes a body-protector such asis used in the game of base-ball, the said protector being of peculiar outline for the purpose of covering the front part of the body of the catcher and having means for securing the protector to the body. This protector is one of the devices to which my invention is applicable, the cover or frame-work bin this instance being made of canvas or like tough and flexible fabric in two or more layers that are fastened together by stitching. Between these layers b b2 of the canvas cover bare held a number of hollow elastic springs, c, which are arranged in such number and so disposed as to leave between them a space smaller than the diameter of a base-ball. These hollow springs are preferably of indiarubber, with walls of a thickness that will keep them distended, and such springs may be made with solid walls, or they may each have a small vent or opening for the-passage of air; and by the term vent or opening7 as used herein and in the accompanying claims I mean an unobstructed Way for the free movement of a'small column of air, with no valve or like device to obstruct the passage. These springs may be made of any desired shape, as globular, cylindrical, hemispherical, or such other shape as will adapt them for use in protectors or shin-guards for various parts of the body. These springsare so disposedl in the structure making up the guard or protector as to receive the force of the blow, and by their elasticity cushion the part covered and protect it from injury.

I prefer to make use of india-rubber as the material on which to make or mold the springs, but I do not limit myself to the use of such material alone.

My invention also contemplates the use of a single sheet or supporting-layer of material, d, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, which is made oi the proper shape, and of cloth, leather, or other flexible fabric, and provided with the proper attaching-straps in view of the particular part of the person that is to be covered by it, and on such support I arrange a series of springs, c, that are of rubber cast to shape or similarly formed with one side flattened, so that each spring may be securely cemented or similarly fastened to the support d, and each of said springs may or may not have the vent c', that allowsthe spring to be oompressed slowly under the impulse of the blow and bring into play the elasticity of the walls of the spring.

In yet another alternate form of my invention the supporting fabric may consistof a net, e, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, and the elastic springs are supported in such net.

Other forms of this invention may be used Without departing from my invention, and I do not limit myself to the specific forms as herein illustrated.

By the term body-protector"7 as used in the following claims I mean to be understood as describing a structure that is adapted to serve as a cover or guard to protect any part of the trunk, limbs, or person of the wearer from the injurious effect of blows.

I claim as my inventionl. In a body-protector, in combination with a supporting fabric of flexible material, a plural number of hollow springs pervious to air and secured to the supporting fabric, with spaces between the said springs no greater in breadth than the diameter of a baseball, all substantially as described.

2. In a body-protector, in combination with a cover or support of flexible material, a series of hollow elastic rubber springs secured thereto, each spring being provided with avent, cl', all substantially as described.

3. In a body-protector, in combination with WILLIAM GRAY.

Vitnesses:

(l1-nis. L. BURDn'r-r, A. B. Jnnnnvs. 

